RPM founding partner, David Goldstein, donates $2 million to USF Football
We’re so proud of our founding partner, David Goldstein! He and his wife Joanne Nelson were honored during Saturday’s game for donating $2 million dollars to support the construction of the new USF Football Center. At RPM, giving back and serving the community are the foundation of how we do business. Congratulations and thank you David!
Article below taken from Go USF Bulls news site:
TAMPA, OCT. 20, 2018– USF Athletics and the USF Foundation announced on Thursday a gift of $2 million from David Goldstein and Joanne Nelson to support the construction of the USF Football Center.
“David and Joanne have long been tremendous supporters of USF student-athletes and their continued success on and off the field,” Vice President of Athletics Michael Kelly said. “We are grateful for this very generous gift that will not only impact the football program but all of our USF Athletics teams. These are exciting times with great momentum in USF Athletics that continue to be propelled by the shared vision and investment of phenomenal supporters like David Goldstein and Joanne Nelson.”
USF has now received four gifts of over $1 million towards the USF Football Center and over $11.4 million in total commitments toward the 160,000-square foot, state-of-the-art facility.
“We are very thankful to David and Joanne for this tremendous gift to support the Football Center and their continued support of our entire Athletics program,” USF head coach Charlie Strong said. “The Football Center will take our program to a higher level and have a big impact on student-athletes at USF and those we are able to attract in the future. It is not possible without outstanding commitment and support like this.”
The USF Football Center, which is estimated to cost $40 million and will be a donor-driven project, will expand upon the current Morsani Football Practice Complex and feature an 83,000-square foot indoor practice facility housing a 100-yard turf field. The Center will also feature a more than 80,000-square foot, two-level building that will provide a state-of-the-art home for the entire football program and allow the reallocation of the space it currently occupies in the Lee Roy Selmon Athletics Center to USF’s other athletic programs.
Among the highlights included in the initial plans for the USF Football Center provided by the global design firm HOK are:
• A stunning entry façade, lobby and multi-purpose space for recruiting
• Indoor practice facility with a 100-yard turf field
• More than 12,000-square foot football strength and conditioning center
• Nearly 10,000-square foot football locker room
• Players’ lounge and adjacent social patio
• Team auditorium with tiered seating
• Sports medicine and rehabilitation facility
• Nutrition center
• More than 12,000 square feet of team and position meeting spaces
• Coaches and staff offices
• Equipment room, video operations, laundry and other support operations
The USF Football Center will provide a dramatic new front porch for USF Athletics and is expected to be a game-changing addition that will attract top-level student-athletes to USF. The addition of space and an indoor training capability to the already excellent USF Athletics campus will present exciting new possibilities for all USF sports and is expected to have major impacts across the breadth of our program.
About USF Athletics
USF Athletics sponsors 19 varsity men’s and women’s teams that compete in 11 different sports, 18 at the NCAA Division I level in the American Athletic Conference. The Bulls’ athletic program began in 1965 and is in its 53rd season in 2018-19. Nearly 500 student-athletes train and compete in the athletic district located on the east end of the campus in Tampa, Fla. The Bulls have claimed 15 American Athletic Conference team titles since joining the conference in 2013, including at least three in each of the last three seasons, and own 112 conference championships overall. Nine USF programs reached national post-season competition in the 2017-18 season and six were ranked in the Top 25 nationally. The Bulls posted a combined annual grade-point average over 3.0 for the third straight year in 2017-18 and have posted a program record seven straight semesters with a combined GPA over 3.0. USF has seen more than 180 student-athletes earn their degree in the last two years.
Follow @USFAthletics on twitter for all the latest information concerning the USF Athletic program.